Of Talons and Tigers
by ILoveTheRobins
Summary: Dick and Artemis went missing two and a half years ago. Now, their dead bodies are found. Everyone can't help but wonder what happened in those two years. Well, you're about to find out. Join in as Dick and Artemis become hero to villain. Talon!Dick, Assassin!Artemis, rated T for language and violence.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, this is the start of my new story! I noticed that there weren't many fics involving Dick and Artemis as assassins, so I'm doing this! I've had this idea for awhile. Please tell me what you think in a review!**

**And please tell me how long each chapter should be in terms of the time frame. One day, one week, one hour, one month. Please tell me out of these four what you want in a review!**

**Just letting you know, this isn't the end. IT IS ONLY THE BEGINNING! MWAHAHAHAHA!**

Batman stared at his son's coffin as it was being lowered into the ground. He couldn't believe that this had happened. He had tried his best, but he hadn't been able to stop it. Bruce had searched everywhere, for two years, yet he couldn't find him.

Dick along with Artemis had been missing for two and a half years, then suddenly their bodies just appeared. Batman had found them in an alley. They looked different. Dick's left eye was missing. Artemis had one very noticeable large scar in the shape of an arrow on her right shoulder. Those looked as if they had been made a long time ago. However, their slit throats looked a lot more recent. The blood pooled from their bodies and onto the concrete. They were left out as if they were purposefully put there so that Batman would find them. And no matter how much digging Bruce did, he had no idea what had happened in the two years they had been gone.

It hurt Bruce that he had no idea if Dick was avoiding him or taken hostage or what had happened. Tears threatened to spill over his navy blue eyes as the dirt began to bury their bodies.

Clark put a comforting hand on his back, but it only reminded him that this was real, and that his adopted son was dead. That was when he broke. He let out a small sob, and tears flowed freely.

Jason stood close to him, along with the rest of the Team. The newest addition to his family tried to look sympathetic, but he had never known Dick, had never met him. Meanwhile, the ones who had known them the longest in the Team, Wally, M'gann, Conner, Roy, and Kaldur mourned for their lost teammates.

Wally placed red flowers over Dick's grave, and green over Artemis's. Dick was like a brother to Wally, he had been for three years before they even started the Team. And though Wally would never admit it, Artemis was really warming up to him.

He stepped back without a word, and he and his uncle sped away to Central City. Maybe some patrolling would help get the recent losses off their minds.

M'gann was a lot more emotional about it. She was bawling. Dick and Artemis were like a brother and sister to her. They had accepted her for who she was. Memories went through her head. She relived their emotions, when Dick had told the Team his secret I.D., Artemis opening up about her family. Then the sadness when they both went missing.

Conner and Kaldur walked up at the same time. They just stared sadly at the graves. A few tears slipped past their brave facade. They had loved Dick and Artemis's antics. The cackling, the bickering, and their sarcastic nature. Kaldur looked to Conner, and they both walked away.

The last of the original Team was Roy. He felt guilty that he had left for so long. He hadn't called Dick, hadn't seen him, had just left him with the rest. But Roy and Dick had an even bigger bond, especially being the first two partners. They had been on their own for awhile, until Wally came along. He let his tears show. Dick would've done that if Roy had been the one in his place.

Roy then turned toward Artemis's grave, and said four words that had great meaning."I don't hate you." He hoped that it was enough for forgiveness, in her memory.

As he walked away, another redhead took his place. After Barbara got over her jealousy issues with Artemis, they began to become really good friends. But Dick was her best friend, and that never would have changed if he hadn't gone missing. But now, they were officially dead. A few people thought that they were dead and they should just give up after a year, but Barbara never gave up hope. Now- it was official. She began to sob, much like M'gann had. Bette came over, rubbing her back to comfort her. Barbara clung to Bette like she was a doll.

Bette had cried a lot too. The four of them; they were all the best of friends. Now they were down to two, and the thought made her cry even more.

Bruce was last. He kneeled at Dick's grave. "I'm sorry, Dick. I couldn't. I never wanted this to happen. Thank you. You were the light in my life. You showed me what it's like to be real. I lived years without knowing what I was missing. But you showed me. You showed me that you were the part that was missing. But you don't have to worry. I won't be lost again. I have Jason. You would have liked Jason if you had met him. He's your brother. He's not your replacement or anything. I never would have found him if not for you. Again, thank you for everything." After Bruce's words were done, he quickly left, Jason trailing after him.

These events could not have been stopped. Everything that happened to them led up to this. The only thing that could have stopped this from happening was Batman saying no to Robin for the joint patrol with Artemis. Dick had wanted to prove that he could be great at teamwork, even if it was with a girl one year older than him.

But somehow that went wrong. And they were missing.

What they didn't know was that Dick and Artemis were pushed to their limits, gone through things that not one other person has been through, and found happiness in a place that seemed hopeless.

And you will soon get to see through their eyes what they went through.

**Ooooh, cliffy! Anyway, please review! Tell me if you loved it hated it, whatever! Well, you can't really judge now because we haven't even gotten close to the good part! I have many ideas for this story!**

**By the way, another reason that you shouldn't judge now is because this is hard to write, you know, the POV, and I don't want to give away too much!**

**Have a fan-freaking-tastic day!**


	2. Chapter 2

Gotham City

9:48 pm

March 6, 2012

"Hey, Arty! Bet I can catch more baddies than you!"

"Oh, you're so on, Boy Wonder!"

Dick and Artemis ran over the snow covered rooftops of Gotham City on the search for criminals. The streets weren't very busy, just like the criminals. Apparently there weren't many tonight. They could hear nothing from the police radio, nor anything from the streets down below. It had been two hours since they started. They only got a few muggings.

Maybe that was why Batman had let Robin ask Artemis if she wanted to go on patrol. Because he thought that his little bird would be safe. Well, it was just the opposite.

Robin stayed silent for a bit, causing a weird look from Artemis. She mouthed 'What?'. Robin shook his head. He was straining to hear something. Robin motioned toward their left, and Artemis took off with him.

"Please, no!" A woman screamed as the mugger got closer. She looked to be about 20 to 30 years old. Long blonde hair hid behind a hat.

"Come on, lady, give me your purse!" He yelled.

"But I worked hard for this money..." She spoke hesitantly.

"Well, it's your purse," he paused to take something out of his jacket ,"Or your life."

He aimed the gun at her head. Her eyes visibly widened. Her lips were a flat line as she tossed the purse at him.

"Now get the gun away from my head." Wow. She was either really stupid or really brave.

The mugger examined his gun for a second as it was momentarily taken from the position at her head.

"Nah." And it went even closer to her forehead than before. She squeezed her eyes shut, body trembling.

He fired. At a brick wall. What? Where did the woman go?

A hard punch to his jaw by a green clad fist knocked him out cold. Robin had tackled the woman in order to prevent her from getting any damage.

"Th-thank you. I really thought I was going to die." She took some money out of her purse and thrust it at them. "I'm sorry. It's not much, but it's all I have."

Robin and Artemis denied the cash. Because what they did never promised a pay.

"Stay safe, ma'am." Robin said before leaving with Artemis.

They returned to the rooftops to start patrolling again. Then, all of a sudden they got a communication feed.

"2343 East Baker Street, I repeat, there is a mugging on 2342 East Baker Street."

Robin frowned. Baker Street was exactly one mile from here, no in between. It seemed suspicious, but they had to check it out.

As they swung over Gotham, they both got the feeling that someone was watching them, but every time they looked back and used their masks to look, they saw nothing. Their masks were equipped with night vision, except not like regular night vision. It could detect hostiles, equippeed with guns or not, and it separated them from the rest of the environment. (lol, I got that from Arkham City)

As they went onto the building of Baker Street, they realized that it had been a trap.

"There's-there's no one here!" Artemis said in surprise.

"It was a trap." Dick said darkly. "We need to get out of here now!"

But before they could make their escape, gas billowed out from nowhere, leaving Dick and Artemis gasping for breath.

They felt their bodies growing slower, weaker, as they tried to get away. But it was no use. Soon, they felt their last bits on consciousness slip away.

They were in the hands of the enemy.

**Don't worry! This fic is far from done! I'm expecting many more chapters to come! Again, please tell me the time period that you would like the chapters to be, one day, one week, one month, or one year.**

**Have a fan-freaking-tastic day!**


	3. Chapter 3

_Unknown_

_4:23 am_

_March 8, 2012_

As Artemis awoke, she noticed two things immediately. One, she was bound to a chair. The leather chafed her wrists as she tried to struggle against the bonds. Number two, she wasn't alone. She could tell that someone else was in the room with her. Maybe it was two people. That didn't sound good.

Wait, where was Dick?! She began to writhe around even more as she thought of all possible things that could have happened to him. She had to find out where he was!

"You trying to get to your friend, baby-girl?" Oh my god. She would always recognize that voice, it had haunted her for years.

"Dad." How did he know that she was trying to find Dick? "What are you doing here?"

He chuckled. "I'll leave you to find that out for yourself. I know that you're smart enough." His voice sounded like it came from behind her. She heard quiet footsteps make their way in front of her. Not like she could see anyway.

Artemis glared into the darkness. "Cut the crap, dad. It's not like I don't know that you're going to try and persuade me into joining the Shadows. Well, it's not going to work." She stated this firmly, venom in her voice. No way she was going to become a villain.

His booming laugh surprised her. It sounded like a father laughing at a daughter's jokes, or maybe losing his fifth round on a video game. But that made her think of what had happened. After Jade left, Artemis and her father were alone, giving him plenty of time to train her to kill. Every time she messed up, she would get a beating. But after that was done, Artemis still had to work through the training all over again until she finally got it right. She would usually go to bed with bruised ribs and black eyes every night. She was sent to school the next day, though, and she had to go through unbearable questioning from her very few friends.

With these memories fresh in her mind, she asked her dad what was so funny. He just laughed some more.

"Who said that I was ever going to persuade you?" Huh?

A light turned on the that was only on her. She could see her dad too.

He gestured toward the shadows, and she heard a person begin to walk toward her. "I'm sure you've met Psimon, right?" The figure stepped into the light.

She inhaled sharply. He made them all lose their memories back in Bialya. It must be very simple to destroy the mind of a normal human like her, right? Crap.

"Hello, Miss Crock. Have I got a surprise for you!" He lifted his hood and delved into her mind.

_Unknown_

_1:03 am_

_March 8, 2012_

Dick woke up to the sensation on water dripping on his hair. How long had that been going on? His hair seemed pretty wet. And why was it so dark? Oh, yeah. His eyes were closed. He was also laying on the ground. Great.

He lifted his head and opened his eyes to get a better view. He still couldn't see. So he would have to improvise. Smell? Well, that definitely won. It reeked of mold. He scrunched up his nose in disgust. Alright, sound? He lifted a hand and slapped it back on the ground. It sort of sounded like it echoed. He could definitely feel dirt up against his palms. A cavern of some sort? That left taste... no.

Dick had to keep a level head if he wanted to do this. Time to think things through. What was the last thing that he remembered? _Snow, patrol, Artemis, mugging, signal, capture. Oh, crap. Artemis._

He jolted upright, finally comprehending what had happened. Artemis. Where was she? Was she okay?

_Keep calm, Dick! In. Out. In. Out._

He heard a loud clattering sound and instinctively turned toward the noise.

Curious to see what it was, Dick took a few quiet steps forward and tripped over something. Ow.

Dick got up tentatively to his feet. What had he trippped over? He reached out and his hands went against smooth wood. It seemed about one foot high, maybe two feet wide? It also seemed pretty long. Six feet? He knocked against it with his knuckles. It was not empty. Finding the edge of the lid, Dick carefully lifted it up, prepared to find out what was inside.

The moment that he set it down on the ground, the lights flickered on. Slow clapping was heard. He spun and faced the person clapping.

"Well done! You told me he was smart, but I never thought he was this smart! Others just sat down and cried, unable to do anything right!"

The man was clothed in an expensive looking suit. He looked young, but he couldn't be under the age of 25. The most unnerving part about his appearance was that his face was covered in a white owl's mask. Walking alongside him was a man who also looked owl themed. He wore a black body suit. There were knives on a belt that went across his waist, and some across his chest. Two large swords were across his back. He looked very muscular. Dick could already tell that there were probably hidden pockets all over the uniform. A large hood went over his head. It had two big lenses on the front, with part of it looking like a beak.

"Who are you?" Dick made sure that no fear was let into his voice.

"We are the Court of Owls, and my friend here is Talon."

Dick looked around the room, and now realized that the rectangular boxes were actually coffins. On them were names and pictures of people. Some photos look older than others, some didn't have pictures at all.

Dick looked to his right and froze in horror. His name was on the coffin.

"Richard Grayson. Welcome to the Court of Owls."

**Have a fan-freaking-tastic day!**

**P.S. This chapter will be the last one before I decide on a certain time period for my chapters!**


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